Moving forward, I am putting the b—- slap on guys who get caught using steroids from here on out.

Keywords: Who get caught…Doesn’t sound like Dana cares if they use or not…just as long as they dont get caught. Nothing surprising coming out from that bald headed idiot’s mouth. He should have a zero tolerance policy and do random testing all year round…that would get you results and keep the sport clean.

oh and strip champs from their titles and suspend for a min. of 1 year AND have a 2 strike and you out policy. Too many juicers in the sport…in all sports…

Well, I, for one, am happy to see Dana so pissed off about the idiocy of failing drug tests.

And I like his position about the punishments…I’m pretty sure that most fighters from midtier up make 75% or more of their money from the extra-contractual money…if that gets yanked, they are gonna be very very unhappy…as they should be.

Let’s hope that this threat finally gets into fighters’ heads and they stop doing stupid things.

I understand why he so mad but he dosent pay his fighter that well

Dana’s taking some appropriate steps. You want to punish the offenders, not draw and quarter them. It sounds like the UFC is proceeding wisely.

I understand why he so mad but he dosent pay his fighter that well

I agree he paid sherk a mere $28,000 for that fight. Meanwhile he pulled in a gate of 5 million not to mention about half a million ppv buys. At $40 bucks a pop that $20 million. I don’t know how he has the bulls to say that he pays his fighter well. They are all grossly underpaid.

Use some of that money to get fedor dana. Make him the first fighter with a million dollar fight.

Wow Dnan might actually do something!? I like his plan but he/UFC doesn’t pay fighter well enough to make guys not want to take roids just to stay in the UFC. Maybe if the UFC didn’t just kick guys to the curb after losing a couple times this might not be such a problem, not saying it wouldn’t happen though.

I agree he paid sherk a mere $28,000 for that fight. Meanwhile he pulled in a gate of 5 million not to mention about half a million ppv buys. At $40 bucks a pop that $20 million. I don’t know how he has the bulls to say that he pays his fighter well. They are all grossly underpaid.

Use some of that money to get fedor dana. Make him the first fighter with a million dollar fight.

Dana pretty much confirmed a secret that wasn’t so secret. Fighters get a paid a lot more than what is reported the athletic commission. Sherk officially got paid $28K but i would guess he probably got paid well over $100k with PPV bonuses that we don’t know about.

I think you can read between the lines here. I think Dana is pissed because he probably paid that bonus already to Sherk and Franca, and now they’ve tested positive for steroids, and wishes he could take that money back. Next time he’ll wait for the drug results to come back.

I think Dana also has a point that there have been very few fighters that have jumped ship because of money, and not because the UFC let them go. Pulver and Penn come to mind, but they eventually came back. The pay must not be that bad.

I agree he paid sherk a mere $28,000 for that fight. Meanwhile he pulled in a gate of 5 million not to mention about half a million ppv buys. At $40 bucks a pop that $20 million. I don’t know how he has the bulls to say that he pays his fighter well. They are all grossly underpaid.

Use some of that money to get fedor dana. Make him the first fighter with a million dollar fight.

I think compared to what other MMA organizations pay UFC pays pretty well. And Dana is using the UFC’s large bank account to try and get Fedor. He just said that the UFC had the most lucrative offer. But he is still dragging his feet to sign with anyone. I think they are underpaid compared to other sports but athletes in alot of other sports are way overpaid. Hopefully they will start getting paid better. But then again we dont know what they make aside from the fights. im sure they dont just rely on their purse from fights. Cuz its a long way inbetween fights. Im sure they make more than we think in other deals and just from their contracts.

Not to mention that Penn and Pulver left when the UFC was barely scraping by. I think everybody forgets that the UFC was not a profitable company until as little as 2 years ago after TUF season one came out. Since then, fighter pay has steadily gone up, they bought PRIDE and are beefing up their roster full of their best guys who are making top dollar. They’ve got PPV’s every month, 3-4 free Fight Nights a year, they’re expanding rapidly to other states, lobbying (which is expensive) to change laws banning MMA, and advertising to those new markets. They’re also trying to expand internationally, and spending heavily promoting their events.

Bottom line, UFC is finally making a lot of money, but they are spending a lot of money growing the sport and the business. Is Dana and the Fertita’s pocketing money hand over fist? Hell, yeah! And they deserve it too. They’ve grown the sport that you and I love to levels we didn’t think possible 5 years ago. If they weren’t make money by now, MMA would still be a 3rd rate sport.

I’m just sick of people complaining that the UFC is stiffing fighters and keeping the money for themselves when they aren’t looking at the whole picture. Am i upset that Lenoard garcia got paid $6k officially for his last fight? Yeah. But think about it. Most of us didn’t know who he was 4 months ago and now we can’t wait for his next fight. Pretty even deal.

And Fedor’s manager has confirmed that they’ve offered more money than anybody else. Money is not the reason why Fedor hasn’t been signed.

And since when did the public start complaining about how little athlete’s make? The battlecry used to be that sports players (usually basketball players) are overpaid crybabies. Now they’re not getting paid enough? We should compare a young new fighter making 3k to fight to a minor league baseball player who make 2k a month for 6 months. Why is there is uproar over their pay?

Good…

It’s funny that he’s doing something considering his response to Josh Gross’ “open letter”…

Gross also asked about the testing in Ireland (to which Dana didn’t respond in his reply)…yet he says nobody has ever asked about it and that’s why it wasn’t reported??? :-/

I think he should also disclose what the total pay is to the fighters. Kind of pointless to make contract $ public but not the actual total amount they make per fight.

Good for him to get harsh on it. Piss and then pay them 2 weeks later.

@hankd
Gross’ letter was a bad joke…I wouldn’t answer any of his questions either, except to tell him to go F himself.

@Jo
Why would they disclose the total pay? It’s none of anybody’s business at all, except the UFC and the fighter who gets paid. I don’t care how much a fighter gets paid…if he signs on the line, it’s because he thinks he’s being paid enough.

And, btw, for those that complain…Chuck Liddell made over 7 million bucks last year from fighting, according to a comment by Dana on an interview…he’s reported as making what? 200k per fight under contract? The numbers published don’t matter one bit…it’s the out-of-the-contract money that matters…and I’m glad Dana is going to withhold that for anybody who tests positive.

Here’s Josh Barnett on fighter pay.

“Q: I’m assuming that you’re hearing from all the major promotions out there but do you ever get any wacky offers from small promotions nobody has ever heard of?

JB: Well, some of those offers I mentioned are smaller promotions that might not be aware of just how expensive the top level guys are. Especially if it is that you read a CSAC or NSAC report following a bout and they say “Joe Schmo made $100 to fight.” Well, often he didn’t make — well, he did make $100 to fight but somewhere in the back he’s getting paid an extra $100 maybe $200 on top of that in addition to whatever it may be for pay-per-view. I even had to explain to a guy “You know I think you know what the top guys are getting but that’s not what they’re getting. They’re getting a lot more than you think they’re getting.”

Q: So when people complain about fighter pay scale in MMA do you think that most of the people that make those observations don’t know the full story?

JB: There’s that and also they’re thinking about it from a completely emotional and sort of an uneducated standpoint. I’ve worked behind the scenes, I’ve worked in promotion and booking, and as a fighter. The thing is, it’s easy for someone to say “Oh, they’re making money they can easily give that money to that fighter.” But it’s not as if they didn’t pay all the money out to put the event together; pay all the money to get people to shoot it for pay-per-view; pay all the money to have all the staff to work the event for them; and then pay the money for this guy to go out and fight as well.

The thing is, most of those guys that are getting paid $3,000 didn’t sell $3,000 worth of tickets or pay-per-views. And in most cases those guys are probably making more money than the UFC makes off of them — certainly in the immediate future. "

http://cbs.sportsline.com/mmaboxing/story/10258762/1

@hankd
@Jo
Why would they disclose the total pay? It’s none of anybody’s business at all, except the UFC and the fighter who gets paid. I don’t care how much a fighter gets paid…if he signs on the line, it’s because he thinks he’s being paid enough.

One could argue that the people who are spending money on tickets and PPVs have a right to know where their money is going. Devil’s advocate.

@nvandy89
So…you get told what Disney spends their money on after you pay to watch one of their movies? Or what MS spends theirs after you buy their OS? And…do you really think that they are telling the truth when they publish any kind of report? if so, I have a bridge at a good price, and I’ll even tell you what I spend the money on ;)

Now, being serious…publicly traded companies have to tell you at least partially (I don’t really know the law about this in the US) what they spend money on…but…the UFC (Zuffa) is a privately owned company, so they have no need to tell us a thing about how they manage their money.

And I go back to the same thing…if the fighters sign the contract is because they think they are getting paid enough…if they sign while they think they are getting underpaid, then they have been getting hit on the head too much.

Ypu guys bitch and complain about athletes in baseball and other sports getting voer payed, and those athlete still whine for more money.

Now you guys complain about UFC athletes being udner payed. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Get your heads examined people. Dana Whie can’t pay these guys like HBO boxers. He’ll go broke if he does. He probably has alot of bills to pay running soo many events per year.

From my observation over the last few years, it seems that Dana is a very “personal” kind of boss. This can be great if you are on his good side, but sh*tty if you are on his bad side.

Nevertheless, i am sure he takes good care of his fighters on a personal level, taking into account their individual needs, as well as, their business needs. And he is probably a little offended that his fighters would not only cheat against their fellow opponents, but cheat the fans and their boss.

There is no telling how many personal favors and requests Dana honors for his fighters…The tone of his response seems to say, “After all this sh*t i did for you…you f*cked me and made me look bad, so then f*ck you, i am not going to pay you the extra cash…it’s strictly business from here on out dude…”

One could argue that the people who are spending money on tickets and PPVs have a right to know where their money is going. Devil’s advocate.

A fighter forfeiting the purse, any the belt and paying a nominal fine if they fail the drug test is a good punishment. They need to keep the suspension in place too. I hope White isn’t going to try to hedge on the suspension time now that he’s put this out. The sanctioning body mandates the suspension time anyway BUT… Zuffa can probably tell the sanctioning body to make the suspension time a range- say three months to one year- to be applied on a case by case basis. So top fighters would get shorter suspensions than undercard dudes. That hasn’t happened… yet.

One more thing and then I’ll shut up for now: It’s in no way White’s or Zuffa’s fault these guys are doping. It does indicate the penalties are not YET severe enough to discourage cheating. White is taking appropriate measures- ratcheting up the pain.

You’re always going to get some attempts at cheating. Look at this dickhead ref in the NBA who is looking at jail time no doubt. Likewise there will still be occasional fighters getting caught.

Zuffa can probably tell the sanctioning body to make the suspension time a range- say three months to one year- to be applied on a case by case basis. So top fighters would get shorter suspensions than undercard dudes.

Bull Sh!t. Top fighters have a bigger responsibility especially if they’re within a few fights for a title shot. The fact that juice is in the sport at all sucks. The fines have to be strict and uniform, regardless of personal or professional bias.

Bull Sh!t. Top fighters have a bigger responsibility especially if they’re within a few fights for a title shot. The fact that juice is in the sport at all sucks. The fines have to be strict and uniform, regardless of personal or professional bias.

Totally agreed. If the top fighters can do roids and get less penalty it really takes the bit out of the crime.

Good…

It’s funny that he’s doing something considering his response to Josh Gross’ “open letter”…

Gross also asked about the testing in Ireland (to which Dana didn’t respond in his reply)…yet he says nobody has ever asked about it and that’s why it wasn’t reported??? :-/

Josh Gross is not a valid enough entity in the sports world to request anyone to disclose anything. Might as well have some fanboy off the street walk up to Dana and demand he disclose test results. I’m not sure who generally who requests such results, but Josh Gross’ biased anti-UFC forum and his personal blogs and rants do not qualify as a formal request for such information if you ask me.

Totally agreed. If the top fighters can do roids and get less penalty it really takes the bit out of the crime.

At the end of the day, despite the recent spate of positive tests, Dana’s problems are tiny compared to those of the commisoner’s of baseball, basketball and football. This kind of thing is bound to happen. There is too much at stake for someone not to try and cheat the game.

Not sure which post you guys responding to. If the suspension time is either say 9 months or nothing, that is good. If they start monkeying with the suspension time and not applying it evenly, that is not good. When push comes to shove I think it is more the case that Zuffa can tell the governing body what to do than vice-versa. I’m not advocating they should do that. They better not but it would certainly be better for Zuffa’s business if Shrek was only out of commission for 6 months instead of 12. A lessor fighter they could give a crap about.

I don’t think a boring fighter like Sherk is good for their business at all. His suspension for a year will do wonders for the lightweight division.

To me either run this like a real sport with solid rules against cheating that don’t favor anyone or just go full WWE and get managers and midgets.

We have to wait and see who will be the first victim. Let see if Dana will really drop the hammer. As for the money thing…well he seems to have it under control. You dont hear much from the fighters. And whenever you do they refuse to comment or claim they mke enough. I don’t know whats going on, but thats what ive observed

Zuffa can probably tell the sanctioning body to make the suspension time a range- say three months to one year- to be applied on a case by case basis. So top fighters would get shorter suspensions than undercard dudes.

            Bull Sh!t. Top fighters have a bigger responsibility especially if they’re within a few fights for a title shot. The fact that juice is in the sport at all sucks. The fines have to be strict and uniform, regardless of personal or professional bias.

        Totally agreed. If the top fighters can do roids and get less penalty it really takes the bit out of the crime.

    Not sure which post you guys responding to. If the suspension time is either say 9 months or nothing, that is good. If they start monkeying with the suspension time and not applying it evenly, that is not good. When push comes to shove I think it is more the case that Zuffa can tell the governing body what to do than vice-versa. I’m not advocating they should do that. They better not but it would certainly be better for Zuffa’s business if Shrek was only out of commission for 6 months instead of 12. A lessor fighter they could give a crap about.

I don’t think a boring fighter like Sherk is good for their business at all. His suspension for a year will do wonders for the lightweight division.

To me either run this like a real sport with solid rules against cheating that don’t favor anyone or just go full WWE and get managers and midgets.

I think the repeated use of steroids will hurt their business more than having one fighter out for 12 months. All I’m saying is that a penalty is a penalty and it shouldn’t change on prejudice. SHOULDN’T. You’re absolutely right that it may happen the way you say it may.

@nvandy89
So…you get told what Disney spends their money on after you pay to watch one of their movies? Or what MS spends theirs after you buy their OS? And…do you really think that they are telling the truth when they publish any kind of report? if so, I have a bridge at a good price, and I’ll even tell you what I spend the money on ;)

I was just bringing up a possible counter-argument (“devil’s advocate”), and I was also thinking more of other sports, not companies like Disney and Microsoft. It is isn’t hard to find out how of a NFL player’s contract is guaranteed, how much is work-out bonus, how much is incentives, how much is roster bonus, etc. I also realize that they need to show how a contract affects the salary cap.

I just don’t really see the benefit of not telling the public what a fight actually earns.

I just don’t really see the benefit of not telling the public what a fight actually earns.

I agree he paid sherk a mere $28,000 for that fight. Meanwhile he pulled in a gate of 5 million not to mention about half a million ppv buys. At $40 bucks a pop that $20 million. I don’t know how he has the bulls to say that he pays his fighter well. They are all grossly underpaid.

Use some of that money to get fedor dana. Make him the first fighter with a million dollar fight.

I believe chuck has had a millioln dollar fight. and he woulda made a million if he beat rampage…

Is Dana still chucks manager?

If I dont see Fedor in an Octogon b4 2008… I will boycott the UFC

to think they fight for 15 minutes , or 25 minutes in a championship match , 28k is not a bad figure . 8k for most underfighters but still thats a decent amount , i’m sure some fighters have a real job , so to get 10k for a 15 minute fight is decent . and dana is a good guy i have met him , he cares about the sport , he can’t control who’s using , the nevada state commission does the drug tests , he’s not a babysitter , he said if they get caught they will get a hefty fine and pay cut , so he does care.

to think they fight for 15 minutes , or 25 minutes in a championship match , 28k is not a bad figure . 8k for most underfighters but still thats a decent amount , i’m sure some fighters have a real job , so to get 10k for a 15 minute fight is decent . and dana is a good guy i have met him , he cares about the sport , he can’t control who’s using , the nevada state commission does the drug tests , he’s not a babysitter , he said if they get caught they will get a hefty fine and pay cut , so he does care.

If the fighters have to work how much does that impact their training and thus their performance?